19Ibid., 36: 126.
20Historia de los religiosos descalzos, translated by Blair and Robertson (36: 128, et seq.).
He says that there were certain wild Indians in the mountains of Butuán in the Province of Karága.21 "They had kinky hair, oblique eyes, a treacherous disposition, brutish customs, and lived by the hunt.22 They had no king to govern them nor houses to shelter them. Their clothing was just sufficient to cover the shame of their bodies, and they slept wherever night overtook them. They were pagans, and in their manner of life almost irrational. They were warlike and waged an incessant war with the coast people." Santa Teresa describes how Dábao, a Manóbo chieftain of great strength and sagacity and undoubtedly the original of the legendary giant that still lives in Manóbo tradition, stirred up rebellion and succeeded in killing many Spaniards in Línao.23
21The Province of Karága at this time extended from Dapítan on the northwest of Mindanáo to Karága on the southeast.
22The reference to the possession of kinky hair might lead us to think that the ancestors of the present Manóbos were Negritos. The only trace of curly hair among the Manóbos of the Agúsan Valley is observed among those who occupy the northwestern parts of the valley, and northeastern contiguous to Butuán.
23Santa Teresa says that a poisoned arrow pierced the leg of a soldier. This reference to the use of poisoned arrows, taken in consideration with Santa Teresa's description of the Manóbos of that region as being kinky haired, and living by the hunt, seem to indicate that the Manóbos of those days were Negritos. A further evidence is added by the application of the term Negrillos (little Negroes) to Manóbos. The use of poisoned arrows is, to this day, a distinctly Negrito custom. At the present time the use of poisoned arrows is unknown to Manóbos and, as far as I have been able to learn, no tradition as to the former employment of them exists.
The rebellion extended all over the valley and Fray Augustin and other churchmen lost their lives as a result. It was finally suppressed by the capture of innumerable slaves. "Manila and its environments were full of slaves." "The Butuán chiefs, who were the mirror of fidelity, suffered processes, exiles, and imprisonments; and although they were able to win back honor, it was after all their property had been lost."24 In 1651 peace was restored by the return of the innumerable slaves captured by the Spanish forces.
24Blair and Robertson, 36: 134.
1661-1672
Between the years 1661 and 1672 the Recollects pursued their evangelical labors in the Agúsan Valley, notwithstanding the constant opposition of the Manóbos. Father Pedro de San Francisco de Asis describes the natives as being "robust and very numerous." He says that in time of peace they were tractable, docile, and reasonable, had regular villages, lived in human society, were superior to the surrounding mountain people, and were easily converted. He claims that there were 4,000 converts living between Butuán and Línao. The people to whom he refers are most probably the ancestors of the Bisáyas of the present day, because, as we shall see later on, the Christianized Manóbo towns of the present day did not exist before 1877.